Apparatus and Method of Environment-Friendly Collecting and Processing Human Excreta

ABSTRACT

The popularly used toilets waste tons of water every year, and laying sewage is very costly. To save money and prevent environment, the present invention is an apparatus and method of environment-friendly collecting and processing human excreta including but not limited to environment-friendly bag (EB), man&#39;s environment-friendly bag (MEB), and woman&#39;s environment-friendly bag (WEB). Each of them is constituted by a pair of flexible film panels with a desired shape, a pair of lockable track/structures and a slider. Every part is made from biodegradable, waterproofing, and flexible material with suitable mechanical properties. The present invention also includes an environmental-friendly toilet with light and cheap material allowing EB to be adapted and a processing equipment converting human excreta into methane and fertilizer. The present invention allows human excreta to be collected and processed, and helps saving money and water.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the priority benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/526,975 filed on 2017 Jun. 29 by a common inventor of this application, which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention

Present invention is about environment-friendly toilet solutions. More specifically present invention is about toilet solutions without using water for flushing human excreta down to drains. Conventional toilets require sewage systems and facilities for transport human excreta travel miles and miles via manmade underground piping systems to human waste facilities for processing including sorting and filtering. Such processes are costly and yet gradually and eventually human excreta produces methane gas into our environment contributing a significant amount of greenhouse gas into the atmosphere.

2. Description of the Related Art

Most modern popular toilets are made of clay with a water tank requiring water flushing and supporting drainage and sewage systems. Such complicated systems are costly and not environment-friendly. These toilets require sewage systems and facilities for transport human excreta travel miles and miles via manmade underground piping systems to human waste facilities for processing including sorting and filtering. Such processes are costly and yet gradually and eventually human excreta produces methane gas into our environment contributing a significant amount of greenhouse gas into the atmosphere.

For improving our environment, better solutions are needed.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

Present invention suggests two solutions as described below:

Solution 1. to make and use an environment-friendly bag (EB) (EB) that is stick-able, sealable, waterproof-able, and biodegradable for collecting human excreta such that a variety of EB fits shapes and sizes of existing toilets currently in use so that no water will be needed for flushing human excreta down to a drain; and

Solution 2. to make and use a presently invented environment-friendly toilet (ET) that can be made of lighter, cheaper, and easy-to-make materials such as plastic materials without considering any use of water for flushing but making and using a variety of EB that fits the ET shapes and sizes.

Collected human excreta with EBs can be sent to a processing equipment (PE) for producing and collecting methane gas to be used as fuel and post-processed remains as a natural fertilizer at the same time. This process together with the two solutions in the present will benefit all lives on earth. Such a processing equipment (PE) can be made small as a family size for families to use or can be made large as a community or city size for a large group of people to use.

Exemplary embodiments will be described hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings. The drawings are schematic or conceptual, and the relationships between the dimensions of portions, the proportional coefficients of sizes among portions, the shapes of portions, etc., are not necessarily the same as the actual values thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of the environment-friendly bag (EB) with lockable biodegradable track/structures and a slider.

FIG. 2 illustrates the convex-capped mushroom shape flexible film panels.

FIG. 3 illustrates an embodiment of the environment-friendly bag (EB) with lockable biodegradable track/structures and a slider. The figure also shows the method of using it.

FIG. 4 illustrates the pattern of the adhesive coating on environment-friendly bag (EB).

FIG. 5 illustrates an embodiment of the environment-friendly bag (EB) with lockable biodegradable track/structures installed along the straight edges of the upper portions of the flexible film panels. The bottom of the bag is flat.

FIG. 6 illustrates an embodiment of the environment-friendly bag with lockable biodegradable track/structures installed along the straight edges of the upper portions of the flexible film panels. The bottom of the bag is flat. The figure also shows how to use environment-friendly bag (EB).

FIG. 7 illustrates an embodiment of the environment-friendly bag with lockable biodegradable track/structures installed along the straight edges of the upper portions of the flexible film panels. The bottom of the bag is spherical.

FIG. 8 illustrates an embodiment of the environment-friendly bag (EB) with lockable biodegradable track/structures installed along the straight edges of the upper portions of the flexible film panels. The bottom of the bag is an arc with a side more spherical than another side.

FIG. 9 illustrates a man's environment-friendly bag (MEB) with a rectangular shape.

FIG. 10 illustrates a man's environment-friendly bag (MEB) with a bottle shape

FIG. 11 illustrates a woman's environment-friendly bag (WEB).

FIG. 12 illustrates how a woman's environment-friendly bag (WEB) can be used, and shows the pattern of the adhesive coating.

FIG. 13 illustrates an embodiment of environment-friendly toilet (ET).

FIG. 14 illustrates an embodiment of environment-friendly toilet (ET).

FIG. 15 is a schematic view of a most popular prior art.

FIG. 16 is a schematic view in an environment-friendly bag (EB) of present invention, illustrated as an embodiment.

FIG. 17 is a schematic view in another environment-friendly bag (EB), illustrated as an embodiment.

FIG. 18 is a schematic view in an environment-friendly toilet (ET) of present invention, illustrated as an embodiment.

FIG. 19 is a schematic view in another environment-friendly toilet (ET) with an enlarged base for enhancing stability and safety of present invention, illustrated as an embodiment.

FIG. 20 is a schematic view in another environment-friendly toilet (ET) of present invention, illustrated as an embodiment.

FIG. 21 is a schematic view in another environment-friendly toilet (ET) with an enlarged base for enhancing stability and safety of present invention, illustrated as an embodiment.

FIG. 22 is a cross section schematic front view of an ET with a stuck-in replaceable EB in present invention.

FIG. 23 is a cross section schematic side view of an ET with a stuck-in replaceable EB in present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The following description with reference to exemplary and illustration drawings of the present invention will be further described in detail, but the present illustration is not intended to limit the embodiment of the present invention, any similar structure of the present invention and similar changes should be included in the scope of the present invention.

Below in conjunction with illustration with FIGS. 1-23, the present invention will be described in detail as follows.

Present invention suggests two solutions as described below.

Solution 1:

Considering an existence of a billion or more toilets requiring water flushing, the present invention proposes to make and to use an environment-friendly bag (EB) that is stick-able, replaceable, sealable, waterproof-able, airproof-able, and biodegradable for collecting human excreta such that a variety of EB fits shapes and sizes of existing toilets currently in use so that no water will be needed for flushing human excreta down to a drain. Accordingly, the present invention further proposes to make and to use various sizes, including personal size, family size, community size, and city size, of devices or plants and services for processing collected excreta for producing and collecting methane gases and natural fertilizers.

A concept of such an EB is illustrated in FIGS. 1-12 and FIGS. 16-17.

As shown in the FIG. 2, the EB is made of a pair of convex-capped mushroom shape flexible film panels. The flexible film panels are seal together along a seal line 230 as shown in the FIG. 1. The cap of the mushroom is described as upper portions of the flexible film panels 110, and the fat stem of the mushroom is described as lower portions of the flexible film panels 120.

The FIG. 3 shows how the EB can be used, as the upper portions of the flexible film panels 110 are folded into vertical to the lower portions of the flexible film panels 120.

A pair of lockable biodegradable track/structures 210 are installed along the curvy edge of the flexible film panels respectively. The pair of the lockable biodegradable track/structure 210 are formed facing each other and are lockable to each other via a pressure pushing them together for being locked waterproof.

The EB is required to be replaceable after each use. The sticky strength of the adhesive coating is in a reasonable range for supporting the purpose and for easy removal after each use. The adhesive coating is fabricated on the side of each of the upper portion of the flexible film panels 110 with no coupled lockable biodegradable tracks/structures 210. As shown in the FIG. 4, the adhesive coating pattern 410 is fabricated on the first upper portion of the flexible film panel 110, and the adhesive coating pattern 420 is fabricated on the second upper portion of the flexible film panel 110. The adhesive coating pattern 410 and the adhesive coating pattern 420 do not overlap with each other.

The adhesive coating patterns 410/420 are designed to not overlap with each other so that a stack of EB can be attached together like a memo note. The pattern 410 of an EB is attached to the pattern 420 of another EB so that the two adhesive coatings from two EBs do not overlap with each other.

FIG. 5 illustrates an embodiment of the environment-friendly bag (EB) with coupled lockable biodegradable tracks/structures 210 sealed along the straight edge of each of the upper portions of the flexible film panels 110 respectively. The lower portions of the flexible film panels 120 are still fabricated into a rectangular shape. The FIG. 6 illustrates how this embodiment works, as the upper portions of the flexible film panels 110 are folded into the vertical position of the lower portions of the flexible film panels 120.

FIG. 7 illustrates an embodiment of the environment-friendly bag (EB) (EB) with coupled lockable biodegradable tracks/structures 210 sealed along the straight edge of each of the upper portions of the flexible film panels 110 respectively. The bottom of the pair of the flexible film panels is fabricated into an arc shape so that the EB can fit in the toilet with a spherical toilet bowl. The two flexible film panels are sealed together along the seal line 710.

FIG. 8 illustrates an embodiment of the environment-friendly bag (EB) (EB) with coupled lockable biodegradable tracks/structures 210 sealed along the straight edge of each of the upper portions of the flexible film panels 110 respectively. The bottom of the pair of flexible film panels is fabricated into arc shape with one side more spherical than another side so that the EB can fit in the toilet with an irregularly spherical toilet bowl. The two flexible film panels are sealed together along the seal line 810.

As shown in the FIG. 9, a man's environment-friendly bag (MEB) 910 is used for collecting human urine for men. The rectangular flexible film panels have suitable width and height. Three of the four edges sealed/jointed together, and a coupled lockable biodegradable tracks/structures 210 sealed along the fourth edge. A slider is installed riding on both the coupled lockable biodegradable tracks/structures 210 being slide-able for locking the coupled lockable biodegradable tracks/structures 210 via a pressure carried by the slider 220 when being slid, wherein the slider 220 is biodegradable or removable.

The FIG. 10 illustrates an alternative embodiment of the man's environment-friendly bag (MEB). The flexible film panels have bottle shape, and the seal line is shown as 1010. A coupled lockable biodegradable tracks/structures 210 sealed along the top edges of the flexible panels. A slider is installed riding on both the coupled lockable biodegradable tracks/structures 210 being slide-able for locking the coupled lockable biodegradable tracks/structures 210 via a pressure carried by the slider 220 when being slid, wherein the slider 220 is biodegradable or removable.

As shown in the FIG. 11, A woman's environment-friendly bag (WEB) is used for collecting human urine of women. The WEB is made of a pair of convex-capped mushroom shape flexible film panels. The pair of the flexible film panels are sealed together along the seal line 230 as shown in the FIG. 11. The cap of the mushroom is described as upper portions of the flexible film panels, and the fat stem of the mushroom is described as lower portions of the flexible film panels.

A pair of lockable biodegradable track/structures 210 are installed along the curvy edge of the flexible film panels respectively. The pair of the lockable biodegradable track/structure 210 are formed facing each other and are lockable to each other via a pressure pushing them together for being locked waterproof.

The WEB is required to be replaceable after each use. The sticky strength of the adhesive coating is in a reasonable range for supporting the purpose and for easy removal after each use. The adhesive coating is fabricated on the same side of the upper portion of the flexible film panels 110 with the coupled lockable biodegradable tracks/structures 210. As shown in the FIG. 12, the adhesive coating pattern 1210 is fabricated on the upper portions of the flexible film panels. A coupled lockable biodegradable tracks/structures 210 sealed along the curvy edges of the flexible panels. A slider is installed riding on both the coupled lockable biodegradable tracks/structures 210 being slide-able for locking the coupled lockable biodegradable tracks/structures 210 via a pressure carried by the slider 220 when being slid, wherein the slider 220 is biodegradable or removable.

To use the WEB, one pulls outwards the upper portion of then flexible film panels for fitting and being placed at a suitable position of her body.

The flexible film panels and the lockable biodegradable track/structures 210 from EB, MEB, WEB are made from one or more materials selected from the following two categories:

a. Bioplastics made from natural materials such as corn starch or

b. Biodegradable plastics made from traditional petrochemicals, which are engineered to break down at desired rate.

The material constituted the EB, the MEB and the MEB is required to be biodegradable. It is waterproof and airproof within a reasonable amount of time such as a month in under a reasonable temperature range, a reasonable moisture range, and a reasonable lighting exposure. The EB is required to start degrading under a certain environmental condition.

For the EB, the MEB and the WEB, the flexible film panels and the lockable biodegradable track/structures 210 are made of waterproofing material with reasonable mechanical properties.

For the EB, the MEB and the WEB, the slider 220 riding on both the coupled lockable biodegradable tracks/structures 210 being slide-able for locking the coupled lockable biodegradable tracks/structures 210 via a pressure carried by the slider 220 when being slid, wherein the slider 220 is biodegradable or removable.

For the EB, the MEB and the WEB, if the slider 220 is designed to be biodegradable, it should be made of either bioplastics made from natural materials such as corn starch or biodegradable plastics made from traditional petrochemicals, which are engineered to break down at the desired rate.

For the EB, the MEB and the WEB, if the slider 220 is designed to be removable. It is able to be removed from the end of the coupled lockable biodegradable tracks/structures 210 after it sealed tracks.

Solution 2:

The present invention also proposes to make and use an environment-friendly toilet (ET) that can be made of lighter, cheaper, and easy-to-make materials such as plastic materials without any need of water for flushing but making and using a variety of EB that fits the ET shapes and sizes. Accordingly, the present invention further proposes to make and to use various sizes, including personal size, family size, community size, and city size, of devices or plants and services for processing collected excreta for producing and collecting methane gas and natural fertilizer.

A concept of such an ET is illustrated in FIGS. 13-14 and FIGS. 18-23.

An ET has a stool type of apparatus for a person to sit on and it has a bowl at a top portion of the ET with a suitable shape for placing an EB that is replaceable, for collecting human excreta. An ET is made from one or more of materials from a group of plastic, rubber, wood, metal, and alloy. An ET also has an opened EB that is designed to be replaced with a new one after each use, to be placed and fit into the bowl of the ET. For enhancing stability and safety, the ET base is preferred to be larger than its upper portion. In the FIGS. 13 and 14, the ET has a base board to stabilize the ET when it is in use.

A system for environment-friendly collection and processing of human excreta includes:

-   -   a. using EBs and/or ETs for personally collecting human excreta;     -   b. collecting EBs filled with human excreta; and     -   c. placing the collected EBs filled with human excreta (CHE)         into a processing equipment (PE) for converting the CHE into         fertilizers and methane gases to be used as a natural energy         resource.

The processing equipment (PE) has a container with an inlet to receive the CHE, an outlet controlled by a valve for outputting methane gas, and a second outlet for outputting fertilizers. Multiple sensors or devices, including thermometers, CH4d density sensors, gas pressure sensors, pH value sensors, cameras and lighting devices can be installed to monitor the processing equipment (PE) and collect data in the processing equipment (PE). The data can be transmitted to another terminal(s), such as computers, cloud servers, and smartphones. 

1. An environment-friendly bag (EB), for a purpose of collecting human excreta during one's defecation or urination, comprising a. a pair of two flexible film panels, with a same suitable and sufficient characteristic, next to each other in parallel with a X-Y plane expressed in an X-Y-Z Cartesian coordinate system with an X axis in a left to right horizontal direction and a Y axis in a low to high vertical direction, having i. a shape like a mushroom with fat stem and a convex-cap atop the fat stem if viewed along a Z axis in the X-Y-Z Cartesian coordinate system; and ii. all edges except a top edge of the pair of the two flexible film panels sealed together for forming a waterproof container bag having an openable mouth atop; b. a pair of coupled lockable tracks/structures, each formed along a top edge of a flexible film panel, lockable to each other via a pressure pushing them together for being locked waterproof; and c. a slider riding on both the coupled lockable tracks/structures being slide-able for locking the coupled lockable tracks/structures together for waterproof via a pressure carried by the slider when being slid.
 2. The EB of claim 1 wherein the same suitable and sufficient characteristic, for the purpose, comprises a. a waterproof ability; b. a biodegradability; c. a shape; d. a size; e. a thickness; f. a strength; and g. a flexibility.
 3. The EB of claim 2 wherein the size is suitable and sufficient for the purpose so that a lower portion of the EB can fit into a toilet bowl and an upper portion of the EB can be pulled outwards open for fitting and being placed atop a toilet cover.
 4. The EB of claim 1 wherein the EB further, for the purpose including: a. for achieving a complete waterproof, once the top edges are completely locked together by a pressure or by siding the slider in a preset direction, under a reasonable ambient environmental condition including a reasonable ambient environmental temperature range within a reasonable number of days for the purpose; and b. for achieving a complete biodegradability except that the slider does not have to be biodegradable if the EB is designed such that the slider can be removed, wherein the biodegradability helps recycling or converting collected human excreta together with the EB into fertilizers and methane gases to be collected as a natural energy resource; comprises one of the materials from a group of a. bioplastics made from natural materials such as corn starch; and b. biodegradable plastics made from traditional petrochemicals, which are engineered to break down at desired rate.
 5. The EB of claim 1 wherein outsides of an upper portion of the EB are, preferably, coated with a thin layer of a stick-able/adhesive material for allowing the outsides of the upper portion of the EB to be stuck or secured on a toilet cover surface when in use, wherein the thin layer of a stick-able/adhesive material is coated onto the outsides of an upper portion of the EB in patterns, preferably, such that when two EBs are stacked together in parallel, there is nowhere having overlapped stick-able/adhesive materials.
 6. The EB of claim 1, the EB, alternatively, for a purpose of collecting human excreta during one's defecation or urination, comprising a. a pair of two flexible film panels, with a same suitable and sufficient characteristic, next to each other in parallel with a X-Y plane expressed in an X-Y-Z Cartesian coordinate system with an X axis in a left to right horizontal direction and a Y axis in a low to high vertical direction, having i. a shape like a mushroom with fat stem and a convex-cap atop the fat stem if viewed along a Z axis in the X-Y-Z Cartesian coordinate system; and ii. all edges except a top edge of the pair of the two flexible film panels sealed together for forming a waterproof container bag having an openable mouth atop; b. a pair of coupled lockable tracks/structures, each formed along a joint line between a portion with a shape of “a fat stem of a mushroom” and a portion with shape of “a convex-cap of a mushroom” of a flexible film panel, lockable to each other via a pressure pushing them together for being locked waterproof; and c. a slider riding on both the coupled lockable tracks/structures being slide-able for locking the coupled lockable tracks/structures together for waterproof via a pressure carried by the slider when being slid.
 7. The EB of claim 1 wherein the EB, alternatively, can be made as a man's environment friendly bag (MEB), for a purpose of collecting a man's urine during his urination, comprising a. a pair of two flexible film panels, with a same suitable and sufficient characteristic including a waterproof ability, a biodegradability, a shape, a size, a thickness, a strength, and a flexibility, next to each other in parallel with a X-Y plane expressed in an X-Y-Z Cartesian coordinate system with an X axis in a left to right horizontal direction and a Y axis in a low to high vertical direction, having i. a general rectangle or a bottle shape if viewed along a Z axis in the X-Y-Z Cartesian coordinate system; and ii. all edges except a top edge of the pair of the two flexible film panels sealed together for forming a waterproof container bag having an openable mouth atop; b. a pair of coupled lockable tracks/structures, each formed along a top edge of a flexible film panel, lockable to each other via a pressure pushing them together for being locked waterproof; and c. a slider riding on both the coupled lockable tracks/structures being slide-able for locking the coupled lockable tracks/structures together for waterproof via a pressure carried by the slider when being slid.
 8. The EB of claim 1 wherein the EB, alternatively, if it is made as a woman's environment friendly bag (WEB), for a purpose of collecting a woman's urine during her urination, comprising a. a pair of two flexible film panels, with a same suitable and sufficient characteristic including a waterproof ability, a biodegradability, a shape, a size, a thickness, a strength, and a flexibility, next to each other in parallel with a X-Y plane expressed in an X-Y-Z Cartesian coordinate system with an X axis in a left to right horizontal direction and a Y axis in a low to high vertical direction, having i. a shape like a mushroom with fat stem and a convex-cap atop the fat stem if viewed along a Z axis in the X-Y-Z Cartesian coordinate system; and ii. all edges except a top edge of the pair of the two flexible film panels sealed together for forming a waterproof container bag having an openable mouth atop; b. a pair of coupled lockable tracks/structures, each formed along a top edge of a flexible film panel, lockable to each other via a pressure pushing them together for being locked waterproof; and c. a slider riding on both the coupled lockable tracks/structures being slide-able for locking the coupled lockable tracks/structures together for waterproof via a pressure carried by the slider when being slid.
 9. The WEB of claim 8 wherein the size is suitable and sufficient for the purpose so that a lower portion of the WEB is suitable for personally collecting her urine and an upper portion of the WEB can be pulled outwards open for fitting and being placed at suitable position of her body.
 10. The WEB of claim 9 wherein insides of an upper portion of the WEB are, preferably, coated with a thin layer of a stick-able/adhesive material for allowing the insides of the upper portion of the WEB to be stuck or secured on/under a suitable part of her body when in use.
 11. An environment-friendly toilet (ET), cooperating with an EB, for a purpose of collecting human excreta during one's defecation or urination, comprising a. a base board, for being placed on a ground, with a suitable and sufficient shape and size for the purpose; b. a general stool or chair or toilet shaped apparatus (GTA), to be jointed to a top of the base board atop, for a person to sit on, wherein an area of the base at a ground level is larger than that of the GTA enhancing stability and safety; and c. a bowl, with a suitable shape for fitting and placing an EB in for collecting human excreta, at a top portion of a level where a person can sit on, wherein the EB is replaceable with a new one after each use.
 12. The ET of claim 11, wherein the ET comprises one or more of materials from a group of plastic, rubber, wood, metal, and alloy.
 13. A system and a method, for environment-friendly collecting and processing human excreta, comprising a. using EBs and/or ETs for personally collecting human excreta; b. collecting EBs filled with human excreta; c. placing the collected EBs filled with human excreta (CHE) into a processing equipment (PE) for converting the CHE into fertilizers and methane gases to be used as a natural energy resource.
 14. The system and method of claim 13, wherein the PE comprises a. a container; b. an inlet at a suitable location of the container for receiving the CHE, wherein the inlet has a cap for sealing the inlet after receiving the CHE; c. a first outlet on a top of the container with a valve for outputting methane gas generated from the CHE during a decomposition process. d. a second outlet at a lower portion of the container for outputting fertilizers generated from a decomposition process; e. one or more sensor(s) or device(s) from a group of temperature sensor, biogas/CH4 density sensor, gas pressure sensor, pH value sensor, camera, and lighting device; f. a data storage for storing data collected through the sensors or devices; g. a device communicating the above sensor(s), device(s), and data storage with the Internet either wired or wirelessly for further communications including data and control communications with one or more external device(s) including a cloud server and/or a smartphone. 